2020 converted me into the bookworm I am today. Both fiction and non-fiction are now part of my self-care regime. Novels, in particular, give me a sense of connection with an abandoned part of me. A part of me thats grateful I've managed to get back in touch with. Maybe it's love that seduces me into genres such as thrillers and romance.

To some degree, we all know that reading is good for us. But how good?

Because I am an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction, it would only be fair to give them both an equal shoutout.

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Journaling is an effective way of expressing and structuring thoughts. It does this by helping to stop catastrophizing. In turn, this helps to regulate emotions and helps to dissipate negative self chatter.

This is why it’s a common form of expressive therapy. Studies reveal how it helps deal with traumas and increase self-awareness.

I first shared 18 Notes From My Journal a few months back. Since my early teens, I’ve kept journals sporadically, and over time the pages have stacked up. My journal is pretty dense. Albeit, a lot may be repetitive, perhaps even garbage.

However, I share a lot…

Journaling is my ritual. Life is a story. So why wouldn’t you want to be the narrator? The benefits are perpetual. Journaling can enhance your mental wellbeing.

Continually writing down my thoughts and emotions has given me more space in the mind, also it has helped me regulate the emotions that arise parallel with the thoughts. It’s also a type of expressive therapy.

Some nights my “little black book” is the only person I feel like talking to. He helps in ways people cant. I can refer back to him for advice and reassurance. …

My therapist said it was okay to surrender, surrendering to your emotions can be a difficult embrace. But there is beauty in this struggle. At first, I wasn’t sold, surrendering sounded like giving up, but after spiritual guidance, I learned there is a huge difference between surrendering and giving up.

My therapist said it was okay to surrender. Surrendering is agreeing to accept what’s going on. Either in your interior world or the exterior. Surrendering is sometimes the victim of misinterpretation. Some people give the word a negative connotation, they imply that it means; defeat, giving up, failing to rise…

Until I stumbled across ‘Headspace’ (a guided mediation app that is suitable for beginners as well as more experienced meditators) I never handled tough phases in life smoothly. In fact, bumps would leave scars, and the tyres in the back of the mind would be left a little worn and flat.

Nowadays, things are better.

Meditation is paramount in sustaining my own mental health, over time it’s changed the relationship I have with thoughts and emotions. Meditation helps to cultivate more space in the mind – a space that feels calm and neutral. …

• Maybe you’re feeling bitter because you think people overlook your efforts.
• Maybe you’re feeling upset because you haven’t attained all you expected.
• Maybe you’re feeling grief because you’ve never closed the door on the fact that it happened.

I’ll begin by saying: I don’t object to your feelings. Nobody should have the audacity to invalidate your emotions by questioning how you should feel. Our emotions are tailored to us. Therefore, who am I —or anybody else — to tell you that you shouldn’t be experiencing this emotion?

Mental note to self: Nobody has the right to tell you what you…

One of my favourite things to do costs nothing.

Looking into the starlit sky I find peace. To me, it’s a healing and therapeutic exercise. When gazing up into the unknown I find myself in the unusual territory; at long last, I’ve arrived in the NOW, I am present!

Nor the past or future has a hold on me. Finally, I get an opportunity to mute any inner chatter — I think we all need to find a place of serenity like this.

These evening strolls under the winter sky’s are normally a solitary experience. But not so long ago…

Avid readers know how efficacious novels can be on feelings. Novels give readers an intimate insight into the protagonist’s world and the emotions they experience.

There are also strong links between vigorous fiction readers and increasing empathy, in turn, helping readers to cultivate stronger relationships outside these fictional pages.

Good fiction illustrates what true love and real relationships look like. And few have done it better than J.R.R.Tolkien.

In Lord Of The Rings (LOTR), we witnessed an auspicious insight into the transcendence of characters and the powerful impact of loving relationships. …